Among the businesses participating in the "biggest-ever" US business mission to Vietnam next week to discuss investment and sales opportunities in the developing Southeast Asian country are SpaceX, Netflix, and Boeing, according to the organizer.
According to a list seen by Reuters, more than 50 companies, including defense, pharmaceutical, and tech companies, will take part in the mission organized by the US-ASEAN Business Council, an industry group.
The delegation is an indication of growing interest in the global manufacturing hub, which is gaining from a move away from China amid Sino-U.S. trade tensions.
As its middle class grows, Vietnam, which has a population of 100 million, also has a quickly expanding consumer market.
"This is the biggest-ever mission in Vietnam," said Vu Tu Thanh, the US-ASEAN Business Council's representative in the country, noting that the body had been organising these events for three decades.
One of the companies going on the trip is streaming behemoth Netflix, about which Reuters last month reported that it planned to open an office in Vietnam. An inquiry for comment from Netflix received no response.
Thanh told Reuters that aerospace companies Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Bell will meet with state-owned Vietnamese defense procurement firms. She added that this was the first time in about ten years that security companies had chosen to participate in the yearly mission to Vietnam.
The same businesses met with Vietnamese government representatives in December to discuss the potential sale of helicopters and drones as the nation looks for new suppliers and the Ukraine conflict puts a strain on Russia, which has long been Vietnam's primary ally in the military.
"Helicopters is one of the things the companies hope to sell to the Vietnamese," Thanh said, although he cautioned that defence deals took time to be completed and no immediate breakthrough was expected.
In a statement, Boeing said that its discussions with officials would center on ways to improve Vietnam's aviation and defense capabilities as well as its expanding partnership with that country.
Requests for comment from Bell and Lockheed Martin were not answered.
According to Thanh, the majority of the businesses participating in the business mission already have a manufacturing or business presence in Vietnam, with some planning to increase it.
Following recent unrest in the nation led by the Communist Party, including the resignation of the president in January, some businesses are also traveling here to gain a better understanding of the political climate, according to Thanh.
Meetings will be held with the top political and governing figures in Vietnam, including Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.
In an era when economic growth reached more than 8% last year, Thanh claimed that some businesses were interested in Vietnam as a hub for manufacturing and in offering services to consumers who were becoming increasingly affluent.
One of them, according to Thanh, is SpaceX, which aims to market its satellite internet services to Vietnam and other nations in the area. A request for comment from SpaceX was not answered.
The list also revealed that semiconductor manufacturers, pharmaceutical behemoths Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, medical device manufacturer Abbott, financial services providers Visa and Citibank, as well as internet and cloud providers Meta and Amazon Web Services, would be participating in the mission.
(Source:www.moneycontrol.com)
According to a list seen by Reuters, more than 50 companies, including defense, pharmaceutical, and tech companies, will take part in the mission organized by the US-ASEAN Business Council, an industry group.
The delegation is an indication of growing interest in the global manufacturing hub, which is gaining from a move away from China amid Sino-U.S. trade tensions.
As its middle class grows, Vietnam, which has a population of 100 million, also has a quickly expanding consumer market.
"This is the biggest-ever mission in Vietnam," said Vu Tu Thanh, the US-ASEAN Business Council's representative in the country, noting that the body had been organising these events for three decades.
One of the companies going on the trip is streaming behemoth Netflix, about which Reuters last month reported that it planned to open an office in Vietnam. An inquiry for comment from Netflix received no response.
Thanh told Reuters that aerospace companies Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Bell will meet with state-owned Vietnamese defense procurement firms. She added that this was the first time in about ten years that security companies had chosen to participate in the yearly mission to Vietnam.
The same businesses met with Vietnamese government representatives in December to discuss the potential sale of helicopters and drones as the nation looks for new suppliers and the Ukraine conflict puts a strain on Russia, which has long been Vietnam's primary ally in the military.
"Helicopters is one of the things the companies hope to sell to the Vietnamese," Thanh said, although he cautioned that defence deals took time to be completed and no immediate breakthrough was expected.
In a statement, Boeing said that its discussions with officials would center on ways to improve Vietnam's aviation and defense capabilities as well as its expanding partnership with that country.
Requests for comment from Bell and Lockheed Martin were not answered.
According to Thanh, the majority of the businesses participating in the business mission already have a manufacturing or business presence in Vietnam, with some planning to increase it.
Following recent unrest in the nation led by the Communist Party, including the resignation of the president in January, some businesses are also traveling here to gain a better understanding of the political climate, according to Thanh.
Meetings will be held with the top political and governing figures in Vietnam, including Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.
In an era when economic growth reached more than 8% last year, Thanh claimed that some businesses were interested in Vietnam as a hub for manufacturing and in offering services to consumers who were becoming increasingly affluent.
One of them, according to Thanh, is SpaceX, which aims to market its satellite internet services to Vietnam and other nations in the area. A request for comment from SpaceX was not answered.
The list also revealed that semiconductor manufacturers, pharmaceutical behemoths Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, medical device manufacturer Abbott, financial services providers Visa and Citibank, as well as internet and cloud providers Meta and Amazon Web Services, would be participating in the mission.
(Source:www.moneycontrol.com)
